By Mike Petraglia | Comments Off on With Rajon Rondo gone, Marcus Smart still isn’t quite ready to be ‘the guy’ yet

Friday marked just the second start in the NBA career of 20-year-old Marcus Smart.

It’s no wonder he isn’t quite ready to assume complete control of the Celtics‘ offense, even with the deck cleared following the trade of Rajon Rondo to Dallas last week.

Smart worked hard Friday (5 points, 6 assists in 31 minutes) but it wasn’t enough in the end as the Celtics fell to the Brooklyn Nets, 109-107.

“A lot of confidence, actually,” Smart said. “It just shows I’m getting back to the player that I was in the preseason and getting back to what this team needs, energy-wise, on the defensive end, and just trying to help my team.”

But asked if he’s ready to assume the role of Rondo, Smart stopped short of that complete commitment.

“Not really. I don’t feel like there’s a guy on this team,” Smart said. “Everybody’s the guy because you never know on any given night, it can be somebody’s night.

“It’s a lot. It’s a lot that comes with it but obviously, I’ve done a lot in my life and throughout my whole career through basketball to prepare me for this type of situation and to just to do whatever I can to help this team come out with victories.”

Still, only at 20, he’s earning the respect of his peers around the NBA. Take Kevin Garnett. KG fell on top of him while scrambling for a loose ball in the third quarter. After Smart got the ball ahead on the break, Garnett tapped him on the backside for his hustle on the floor. Afterward, Garnett said he was “trying to trip his ass.”

Smart could laugh because he’s becoming more and more comfortable assuming command of his team.

‘Felt very comfortable. Practiced the other day helped that. Went over some plays and getting guys in the right spots so I was able to know where guys were going to be and try to find them today.’

Smart found out on Christmas Day that he was starting on Friday.

“Coach [Brad Stevens] called me before practice and told me that I was going to be starting and just to keep bringing the energy,” Smart said.

“Both, practice time and conditioning. With an injury you tend to sit on the sideline and your conditioning goes and its easy to get out of shape then it is to get into shape. Getting those minutes and practice time has put me back into the shape that I was in in the preseason.’

By Mike Petraglia | Comments Off on Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett return to Boston and get a Celtics Pride welcome

After the first quarter Sunday night in his return to Boston, former Celtics captain Paul Pierce was given a stirring video tribute by the Celtics on the TD Garden video board. The crowd stood and cheered for several minutes while the cameras showed Pierce thanking the fans who chanted, “Thank you, Paul Pierce.”

During a minute-long video tribute with 2:25 left in the first quarter, Kevin Garnett stood and watched in front of the Brooklyn Nets bench as he was cheered by Celtics fans. At the end, he pounded his chest and pointed to the fans in appreciation.

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce achieved significant NBA scoring milestones while leading the Celtics to a bounce-back 112-88 blowout win over the Raptors Wednesday night at TD Garden.

Garnett scored 12 points and passed Jerry West for 15th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with a dunk with 6:30 left in the first half. Pierce scored 15 and passed Charles Barkley for 20th place on the same list with a pair of free throws midway through the third quarters.

Both Pierce and Garnett received a video tribute during separate timeouts and a standing ovation from the Garden crowd.

Riding a two-game losing streak, the Celtics (35-29) raced out to an early 18-12 lead but thanks to six first-quarter turnovers, allowed Toronto to go on a 10-4 run to end the quarter and trailed the Raptors, 22-21, after 12 minutes. Seven Celtics scored in double figures and Shav Randolph was the only Celtic not to score.

The Celtics took better care of the ball in the second quarter and raced out to a 49-40 lead at the half, as Jeff Green scored 12 points in the quarter. Green finished with a team-best 20 points while Jason Terry and Jordan Crawford had 12 each off the bench.

THe Celtics quickly built their lead to 13 in the opening minute of the third, 53-40, but the Raptors came back to close to within four, 60-56. The Celtics finally put the game away with a 21-6 run to end the third and head into the fourth with an 81-62 lead. Former Celtic Sebastian Telfair picked up his second technical foul in the third quarter intermission and was ejected.

The Celtics built their lead up to as many as 25 in garbage time, allowing Doc Rivers to take out Garnett with just under 10 minutes left. However, unlike the night before, Garnett was getting rest because of a blowout lead.

The win came one night after arguably Boston’s worst effort of the season in a 26-point loss to the lowly Bobcats in Charlotte. The Celtics have Thursday off and will practice Friday in advance of their rare Saturday night home game, a revenge contest against the Bobcats at the Garden.

The Celtics will conclude their three-game homestand with a Monday night game at the Garden with LeBron James and the Heat, who ran their win streak to 20 games with a narrow 98-94 win over the Sixers Wednesday night in Philadelphia. The Heat have road games against Milwaukee Friday and Toronto Sunday afternoon before taking on the Celtics in Boston Monday night.

For more from the team of Mike Petraglia and Ben Rohrbach from the Garden, visit the Celtics team page at weei.com/celtics.

With a patented turnaround jumper over Earl Clark with 8:08 left in the second quarter of the Celtics‘ game against the Lakers, Kevin Garnett became the 16th player in NBA history to reach 25,000 points. Garnett becomes the only player in NBA history with 25,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 5,000 assists, 1,500 blocks, and 1,500 steals.

During a timeout several minutes later, the Celtics honored him with a tribute on the TD Garden video board. The crowd gave him a standing ovation and Paul Pierce led the cheers in the Celtics huddle. As the Celtics came out of the timeout, Garnett tipped his hand to the crowd in appreciation.

Garnett scored a season-high 27 on Wednesday night in Toronto, making it a near-certainty KG would reach the mark on national TV against the Lakers, needing just six points to reach the 25,000-point plateau.

It’s the second time in three seasons a Celtics player has achieved an NBA milestone against the Lakers. In Feb. 2011, Ray Allen became the NBA’s all-time leading 3-point shooter, passing Reggie Miller in a Thursday game against the Lakers.

Kevin Garnett led all five Celtics starters in double-figure scoring with a season-high 27 points and powered a key run at the start of the fourth quarter as the Celtics outlasted the Raptors, 99-93, Wednesday night at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. His turnaround jumper with 46.6 seconds left put Boston up 96-91.

Garnett’s three-point play with 8:46 remaining capped a 10-0 run at the start of the final period as the Celtics overcame a sloppy third quarter to win their fifth straight game and improve to 25-23 on the season. Garnett was 11-of-18 from the field and added 10 rebounds in the win.

Paul Pierce had 12 points and 11 rebounds while former Raptor Leandro Barbosa chipped in 14 points off the Boston bench. Courtney Lee (15), Avery Bradley (11) and Brandon Bass (10) also scored in double figures. After dominating the previous four games, the Celtics bench was not a major factor Wednesday but still outscored Toronto’s reserves, 24-20.

The Celtics finished the first half on an 11-6 run to take a 50-45 lead. The Celtics scored first in the third quarter to increase their lead to seven, but Rudy Gay then came alive. Gay, who was 8-of-22 from the field, scored 13 of his team-leading 25 in the third.

The Raptors appeared ready to steal the game with a 17-4 run late in the third quarter. The Raptors would outscore the Celtics 34-19 to take a 79-69 lead heading into the final 12 minutes. The Raptors had five of their 11 steals in the quarter as Toronto took command.

But Garnett led a Celtics charge that saw Boston outscore Toronto 30-16 in the final 12 minutes to wrap up a fifth straight win. Barbosa had 12 of his 14 in the final period to help Garnett and the Celtics put the game away.

The way Kevin Garnett looks at it, Wednesday’s obvious snub of Celtics rookie Jared Sullinger from the NBA All-Star “Rising Stars” competition in Houston on Feb. 17 should help light even more of a fire under the seat of the rookie out of Ohio State.

Garnett was informed after Wednesday’s game that Sullinger, who is averaging over six points and six rebounds a game for Boston, was overlooked in the annual competition of the best first and second-year players in the league.

“Really? I’m actually shocked,” Garnett said.

Then he expanded upon those thoughts.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “This league has, I guess, an agenda in what they want. And Jared’s not in that agenda. I hope it creates a monster within him. I hope it does everything [to] encourage him.”

Ironically, the snub and Garnett’s statements come on the same day that Sullinger had a recurrence of his back spasms that bothered him in his senior year at Ohio State, allowing him to drop to 21st in the NBA draft last June, and allowing the Celtics to snap him up.